As much as I would like to, I can’t take credit for the title of this piece. This catchy little phrase came from one of our U.S. National Guard Bureau students.

We train the National Guard in the identification of white powdersand other suspicious materials. I think the above catchphrase sums up nicely the value of training - and I’m including the training one gets from a sales rep - as well as more formalized instructor-led hands-on training.

I can’t tell you how many times we would arrive at a customer’s laboratory and see equipment still in boxes, even years after the purchase, because the end user couldn’t justify the funds for training to their immediate supervisor.

National Guard white powder identification training

Let’s stop building up our inventory and start actually using the equipment for its intended purpose — to solve problems. Of course using the hardware properly is just one half of the equation, the other half resides between your ears. Being able to make informed analytical judgments is more powerful than the equipment itself. That’s an investment in yourself—probably the most important piece of equipment in today’s laboratory.

Guest Posted by Chuck Zona, Vice President and Dean of Hooke College of Applied Sciences, IL, USA